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For a piano to hold a stable tuning, its essential that the tuning pinsare tight. While there are other factors (such as fluctuations in humidity) whichhave an impact on the longevity of a tuning, a tuning pin which is loose to thepoint where it slips and turns in its hole will cause the individual note involved tosound horribly out of tune. Your piano is tending to go quickly out of tune inpart because of loose tuning pins. One treatment to consider is to apply CA(cyanoacrylate) glue around each tuning pin where it meets the pinblock.The following commonly asked questions have been answered to give you theinformation you need in order to decide whether or not to have me treat thepinblock of your piano with CA glue:Are loose tuning pins caused by a defect in my piano or is it something thatjust happens as a piano ages? On an older piano the problem most likely is caused by a pinblock that hasgradually been losing moisture content over the years. This is a natural processwhich is difficult to prevent entirely, although keeping the humidity level of yourhome at a comfortable level during periods of dry weather will help prevent arapid worsening of the situation. If your piano is new and has loose pins, it is a situation that should bebrought to the attention of the dealer, in that it could be a warrantee issue. Page 2

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Tuning Pins Pivot Points Cast Iron Plate Tuning Pin Bushings Laminated Pinblock Tuning Pins The above cut-away model of a piano pinblock, plate and pins illustratesthe origin of the problem. The pinblock is made hardwood, in this case hard rockmaple. Its laminations run cross grain to each other to prevent splitting, and tobetter hold the tuning pins. The pinblock is not ordinarily visible, but is hiddenbeneath the cast iron plate, which is necessary to hold the tremendous tension onthe strings, measuring anywhere from 18 to 20+ tons for the piano as a whole.. The holes for the tuning pins are drilled into the pinblock with a drill bitapproximately 1/100 of an inch smaller than the pins. After the holes are drilled,the pins are pounded in and are tight, usually having a torque of 120 inch poundsor more. Tuning a piano which has been newly pinned is a lot of work! The no-ticeable slant of the pins, by the way, is away from the pull of the strings, much inthe same way that tent stakes are driven with a slant away from a tent. As the piano ages, the pinblock typically loosens up as the wood loses someof its original moisture content. Pins in an older piano will almost always feelquite a bit looser than on a new piano. When the torque on pins drops down below20 or 30 inch pounds, slipping of the pins may start to be noticed. Your piano hasreached that point. Page 3

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Why does application of CA glue improve pin tightness? The reason that CA improves the torque of the pins has less to do with thegluing properties of the liquid, and more to do with the fact that the CA acts toswell and stiffen the wood fibers around the pins. Capillary action pulls the liquiddown and around the pin where it quickly acts to improve the tightness felt by thetuner when the hammer is placed on the tuning pin and the pin is turned. The beauty of the CA treatment is in how quickly it acts. Earlier liquid pintighteners could take days or even weeks before improvement in pin torque wasnoticeable. With CA, results are achieved within minutes.How exactly will the treatment be accomplished? With a vertical piano,it is sometimes necessary tolay the piano on its back toprevent the CA treatmentfrom running down the castiron plate. If tilting the pi-ano is called for, a pianotilter will be used to safelytip the piano backwards. Tomake the job go morequickly, it is helpful if anyfurniture directly in front ofthe piano be moved out ofthe way. Once the piano is readied, the CA will be applied with a small diameter ap-plicator around each tuning pin. Ordinarily, it will take more than one pass toreach the saturation point. Once the CA quits wicking in, the process is done. Sometimes if the tuning pin bushing is very tight, it may be necessary to drill a tiny hole through each bushing to allow the liquid to seep down to the pinblock. The drill in the photo to the left measures a mere .025", small enough to drill a hole in the thin wooden bushing surrounding each tuning pin. By drilling this hole, the liquid can better penetrate to where its needed. Page 4

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Besides having furniture moved out of the way, are there other preparationsor precautions to consider? It is very helpful if there is a window that can be opened, or at least crackedif the weather is cold, to provide for ventilation. The fumes from the CA glue canbe intense. Closing the doors to keep the odor confined to the room which housesthe piano might be a good idea. The chemical smell of the treatment will dissipateafter a few hours, but may be noticeable while sitting at the piano for some timeafter I leave.How much improvement will be made in my piano by this treatment? Results will vary from piano to piano, but oftentimes the pins are muchmore snug after application of CA. The above photos show torque reading measurements done on the sametuning pin before and after CA glue was administered. In the photo on the left, theuntreated pin measures just under 20 inch pounds of torque. After a single treat-ment the pin measures a much better reading of 55 inch pounds of torque.Are there other remedies for this problem? Certainly. There are a number of methods of treating loose pins, which varywidely in cost due to a huge difference in the amount of time required and the costof the materials involved. For both uprights and grands, the most complicated pro-cedure involves the total replacement of the pins, strings and pinblock. The timerequired to perform this procedure is measured in days or even weeks, so its not ajob to be entered into without considering the value of the instrument. For manypianos, the much less costly procedure of treating the pinblock with CA gluemakes sense, in that measureable improvement may be made at a reasonable cost. Page 5

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My piano has so many tuning pins! Would it save money if I just had youonly treat the pins that were the loosest? Not really. To dothat, I would first need to gothrough the piano with atorque wrench to identifythe worst offenders, markthem, and apply the CAtreatment to those pinswhile avoiding the others. Itis much more efficient totreat them all. Besides that, if evenjust a few pins are showingsymptoms of a pinblock thatis not holding well, morewill eventually follow. Thankfully, the problem can be remedied. The key to keep-ing your piano in good condition is having expert maintenance done on a regularschedule. With improved pin tightness, the tuning stability of your piano shouldbe enhanced, making it more of a pleasure to play between tunings. "In business to bring your piano to its full potential." Please advise me when you wish to have this repair professionally done. David Boyce, BA Piano Technician Tel: 01475 639915 Mobile: 07714 959806 David@piano.plus.com www.piano.plus.com Page 6